Haas Hall proposes opening in Springdale's Jones Center

Zander Davidson (left) and Tel Johnson, both seniors at Haas Hall Academy, try out a prosthetic leg Friday made in their bio medical and life sciences class at the Fayetteville campus. The school is hoping to expand to a Springdale campus in The Jones Center.
Zander Davidson (left) and Tel Johnson, both seniors at Haas Hall Academy, try out a prosthetic leg Friday made in their bio medical and life sciences class at the Fayetteville campus. The school is hoping to expand to a Springdale campus in The Jones Center.

SPRINGDALE -- Haas Hall Academy plans to open its third campus in August in the Jones Center in space now occupied by Springdale School District's School of Innovation.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette

Alexis Hodne, freshman at Haas Hall Academy, works Friday in her computer business applications class at the Fayetteville campus

"We have so many scholars apply that we can't get into two campuses," said Martin Schoppmeyer, founder and superintendent of Haas Hall.

Haas Hall history

• Charter school for students in seventh through 12th grade

• Started in Farmington in 2004

• Opened in Fayetteville in 2009

• Moved to new Fayetteville location in 2015

• Added Bentonville location in 2015

• Proposes Springdale campus to open in 2016

Source: Martin Schoppmeyer, founder and superintendent

Haas Hall would be the second charter school to open in Springdale, subject to the decision of the state's Charter Authorizing Panel.

The panel, made up of top-level staff within the Arkansas Department of Education, will have hearings on applications for amendments to charters at a three-day meeting set for Feb. 17-19. Decisions can be reviewed by the Arkansas Board of Education.

Haas Hall opened in 2004 in Farmington and moved to 3155 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville in 2009.

This school year, Haas Hall moved its Fayetteville students to a new campus in a former clothing store on 3880 N. Front St. and opened a second location at 2600 S.E. J St. in Bentonville. The charter school also added seventh grade.

Even with the expansion to Bentonville and the addition of seventh grade, Schoppmeyer last spring turned away 660 students, 248 who applied to the Fayetteville campus and 412 students who applied to the Bentonville campus. Students are selected through a random lottery.

About 360 students attend the Haas Hall campus in Fayetteville, and about 300 students are at the Bentonville campus, Schoppmeyer said.

Schoppmeyer proposes enrolling up to 360 students in the seventh through 12th grades at the Jones Center next school year, he said. Enrollment also will increase by 40 students in Fayetteville and by 60 students in Bentonville for the 2016-17 school year.

Schoppmeyer submitted a request for a license to expand to the Arkansas Department of Education this month.

The request includes a copy of an agreement for Haas Hall to lease 31,140 square feet in the Jones Center for five years, with rent starting at $23,484 per month and increasing 2 percent per year. The lease is contingent on state approval to open the Springdale campus.

The Jones Center was full of students at the start of this school year, with the recreation center providing space for the Springdale School District's School of Innovation and Ozark Montessori Academy, as well as for Northwest Arkansas Community College and other educational organizations.

"The space here is really terrific for that kind of incubation," said Ed Clifford, chief executive officer of the Jones Center. "The kids put a lot of vitality into it."

The idea to carve out space for schools started when Christi Silano, founder of Ozark Montessori Academy, wanted to open Ozark Kids Montessori Preschool, which continues to be housed in the Jones Center, Clifford said.

When Springdale School District began planning for the School of Innovation, district officials were in need of a space, Clifford said. Jones Center staff started discussions of carving out space in the center with Springdale Superintendent Jim Rollins and Gary Compton, the district's assistant superintendent of support services.

The schools haven't interfered with the Jones Center's mission to provide recreation for the community, Clifford said.

The preschool opened in January 2014, and the School of Innovation followed in August 2014.

"We're just extremely grateful that they opened the doors to try something different," Silano said. "We're glad it worked out so other schools could take advantage of the space as well."

The Ozark Montessori Academy held classes for 140 students in kindergarten through sixth grade while a building at 301 S. Holcomb St. was being renovated. The academy moved to the new location this month.

Plans are for the School of Innovation to move out of the Jones Center and into a new campus under construction on Hylton Road. The school has 400 eighth- and ninth-graders this year and will add a grade each year until it reaches 1,000 eighth- through 12th-graders.

The School of Innovation will begin operating under a charter in August allowing for a dual-language program and for online courses.

Rollins described Haas Hall as a fine educational institution. He was uncertain about the impact the addition of Haas Hall to Springdale would have on the school district.

"I think it just provides another option for those families who are looking for more choice," Rollins said. "I know we live in an age of competition. We're certainly prepared to compete if Haas Hall chooses to have a long history here."

As an open-enrollment charter school, Haas Hall isn't confined by the boundaries of public school districts and can accept students who reside in districts across the region.

The layout of the Jones Center is well suited for a school and would provide students with access to the gymnasium, auditorium, swimming pools and ice-skating rink, Schoppmeyer said. He likes the idea of schools with 300 to 500 students.

"You're able to give that individual attention," Schoppmeyer said.

NW News on 01/30/2016

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